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Wednesday... Yes, both can be so true!


Wednesday... Yes, both can be so true.

Now I could as an individual who is writing tell you how to face your day but just because I face it one way doesn't mean that that is the way for you to face it. And the unique way that God made us is shown here is Psalm 3. 

King David is writing this Psalm as he is fleeing from his son, Absalom. And that in so many different ways would not be a time to be happy, to be positive and to have a smile on our face. I mean, it is his son that is wanting to kill him.

David in verses 1-2 (NLT) says, "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me. So many are saying, 'God will never rescue him!" And in what you are facing at the beginning of this new year that may be what you are saying. And it's ok.

Now as I set down to write this morning I had a deep feeling of gratitude for what kind of life I am facing. I was emotional about God's goodness in my life but I don't have a son that is trying to kill me. I am not facing what you are facing today, whatever that is. So you may have the right to say, "Lord, I have so many enemies." Life can really be so very rough. Yes, you may it seems have so many enemies, so many that are against you. That may be very real in your life.

But then David changed his focus. In verses 3-4 he says, "But you, O Lord, are a shield around me; you are my glory, the one who holds my head high, I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain."

Now God knows us. He created us. He knows how we face difficulties. And he wants us to be honest and accept who we are. 

But look at this. So many people only have the ability to see their enemies because they don't have a relationship with one who allows us to be discouraged and overcome with struggles and trials and for some a whole lot of enemies around them but they also know that they have a relationship with someone they can turn to, who is a shield around then and to whom they can call out to. And that fact can make what we are facing bearable. Yes, the enemies are still there, the problems that are unbearable are still there but there is also someone who is by our side who is shielding us and who can handle whatever it is we are facing. 

And then David said in verses 5-6, "I lay down and slept, yet I woke up in safety, for the Lord was watching over me. I am not afraid of ten thousand enemies who surround me on every side."

He then ends this Psalm in verse 8 by saying, "Victory comes from you, O Lord. May you bless your people." The NIV says it this ways, "From the Lord comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people."

That could be a fact that we need to carry with us in 2024. Yes ,verse 1 (NLT) could be so very true, "O Lord, I have so many enemies; so many are against me." But then verse 8a (NIV) also is true, "From the Lord comes deliverance." NLT, ""Victory comes from you, O Lord." Yes, both can be so true! Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning 




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